Imran Khan leaves hospital

Imran Khan has left hospital more than two weeks after he suffered serious injuries when he fell from a forklift at a Pakistan election campaign event.

Imran Khan has left hospital more than two weeks after he suffered serious injuries when he fell from a forklift at a Pakistan election campaign eventPhoto: AFP/GETTY

By Associated Press

8:45AM BST 22 May 2013

The former cricket captain will remain at his home in the eastern city of Lahore for a while so that doctors can monitor his progress, said the spokesman for the cricketer's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Naeemul Haq.

"Thank God, Imran can walk," said Mr Haq. "He is now at his home after being discharged from the hospital."

Mr Khan fractured three vertebrae and a rib when he fell 15 feet off a forklift that was raising him to a stage at a campaign event in Lahore on May 7.

The accident, which was broadcast on TV, largely knocked him out of the final days of campaigning ahead of national elections, held on May 11. But he later delivered video messages to his supporters from his hospital bed.

Khan, who is revered in Pakistan for leading the national team that won the 1992 cricket World Cup, led an election campaign that energised the country's youth. He criticised traditional politicians as corrupt and declared it was time for "change" in Pakistan.

The Pakistan Muslim League-N party, led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was able to weather the challenge by Khan in the election. Mr Sharif's party scored a resounding victory, winning close to a majority of the 272 directly-elected national assembly seats, and is expected to form the next government.

Mr Khan's party fell short of its prediction that it would sweep the election, but still did very well, compared to its past performance. It won at least 28 national assembly seats, compared to only one seat won in the 2002 election.